Annual medical report / Colony and Protectorate of Kenya.

  • Kenya. Medical Department.
Date:
[1932]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual medical report / Colony and Protectorate of Kenya. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    57/140 (page 49)
    The small native reserve out-dispensary is, in fact, a type of medical institution of first class importance. At these dispensaries the bulk of our patients are seen and at these dispensaries in consequence more good or harm can be done than anywhere else. Their capacity for good is unlimited if they are properly administered and adequately supervised ; inadequately supervised they are capable of much harm. The business of organizing out- dispensary work is therefore one of the chief functions of the Medical Depart¬ ment, and the business of supervising his dispensaries one of the chief func¬ tions of the district medical officer. The standard of the out-dispensary dresser is still far from high and if left unsupervised for any length of time he may easily fall into careless habits, furthermore he cannot diagnose all complaints or treat all diseases, and as his clinical knowledge is limited he cannot be entrusted with dangerous drugs. Frequent visits from the medical officer are therefore necessary. If possible these visits should be made weekly as a. routine and the medical officer should, if possible, spend the day at the dispensary dealing with the hundred or two hundred cases which may turn up to be seen by him. But the demands on a district medical officer’s time are many, he may have a dozen out- dispensaries in his district, each situated a score of miles away from his hospital. Even where there are two medical officers in a district weekly visits are seldom possible, and where there is only one a monthly visit is often the most that can be achieved. At the present time therefore any considerable extension of the out-dispensary system is impossible. The Development of the Out-Dispensary System. The development and improvement of the out-dispensary system owing to the paucity of supervising medical staff is therefore our immediate object. To secure this improvement and developmen about ten Africans are being systematically trained each year at the Jeanes School a-s “ dispensary welfare workers ”. These Africans were originally intended to replace the present dressers and to undertake health visiting as well as medical work and first aid, but the demands on the dispensaries for all kinds of assistance are becoming so great that it is unlikely that they will be able to replace the dressers, and so, soon we shall require to have both a dresser and a health visitor or “ welfare worker ” at each dispensary. Improvement of the medical side will therefore probably be slow* and notable progress in that direction will not be possible till systematically trained dressers or “ hospital assistants ” from the medical training depot are available for the out-dispensaries as well as for the hospitals. The ultimate object is to post to each out-dispensary :— A well trained hospital assistant, A well trained welfare worker, and An African midwife. At the same time a few beds should be provided at each dispensary and an adequate ambulance service established. When these things have been done the out-dispensary from having been little more than a poor dressing station as was the case only a few years ago will have developed into an effective “ primary health centre ” capable of playing a part not only in the cure but in the prevention of disease. NATIVE HOSPITALS. - - - Considerable building activity occurred during the year and old and dilapidated buildings at Ivabarnet, Narok and Nyeri were replaced by per¬ manent structures of good design aud material. The establishment of beds at these new hospitals was as follows :— (a) Kabarnet . .... 20 beds (b) Narok ... ... ... ... ... 14 ,, (c) Nyeri ... . 30 ,,